Where Have All the Workers Gone? Frustrated Shops Go Short-Handed as Labor Pool Drains

Where Have All the Workers Gone?

Frustrated Shops Go Short - Handed as Labor Pool Drains

Good help is truly hard to find – but New Jersey shops can’t even seem to find any help at all. Shop owners all around the state are shouting, “We’re Hiring” and “Help Wanted,” but much to their dismay, no one seems to be listening. On those rare occasions where someone does respond to their calls for a variety of open positions (front desk coordinator, experienced body technician, painter, prep person, you name it), the candidates often aren’t serious about taking on the task. Attracting new people to the industry has already been a challenge, and now it appears the pandemic has left the industry stricken with even more pain when it comes to hiring. “I’m hearing from frustrated shops every day,” AASP/ NJ Executive Director Charles Bryant shares. “I’ve heard everything you can imagine, including, ‘We haven’t been able to get anyone since COVID-19.’ They just can’t find anyone to work.” Many shops went into the pandemic already shorthanded, while others had to lay people off last year due to drained finances. Today, those shops remain down in staffing. “Some shops laid people off and can’t even get them to come back,” Bryant adds. The association has been helping by posting members’ job openings on its social media pages while also looking at whatever resources it can. Even the AASP/NJ Labor Pool is tapped out, with Bryant saying that he has “looked everywhere in the world to find people.” Veteran shop owner and AASP/MA Treasurer Tom Elder (Compact Kars; Clarksburg) has good business coming in but is down too many employees to easily keep up. He’s getting the word out through vendors and manufacturers, Facebook, Monster and Indeed but getting absolutely nowhere. In fact, he says Monster and Indeed could be scams when it comes to being employment resources, as the companies keep sending along the same few people. He’s reached out to the suggested folks, but they don’t respond or just aren’t qualified. “No applicants are coming in, and anybody who does apply is not qualified. It’s hard to find an experienced A-tech.” In addition to needing an experienced tech, Elder could use the right people to fill a number of other positions, including detailer, painter, prep person estimator and additional mechanic. The shortage isn’t necessarily new, as Elder has been down at least one person for over two years now. He knows

it’s industrywide, as even his vendors tell him that every shop they talk to is “clamoring for people.” “At this stage in my life, I can’t even fill in for all these guys who are missing. I can do a little bit of work myself, but I don’t have the energy and stamina to fill in for some of these jobs that need to get done.” What’s behind such a serious shortage? “I think the biggest thing that affected employment is that they put bonuses on unemployment. It encouraged people not to work.” It’s been bad enough that shops struggle to pay people who are looking for compensation rates they can’t afford. But on top of the wage, the shop needs to also cover workers’ compensation insurance, health benefits and a portion of unemployment taxes. Elder says after all that, there just isn’t much left. Now, the dynamic has changed even more, with unemployed workers finding themselves benefitting by staying home. “The lower-level jobs are still getting the $300 a week bonus […] A guy making $60,000 a year is normally making $1,200 a week and is getting $735 from unemployment and a $300 bonus. How do you beat that when a guy was making $1,200 and coming to work?” Sandor Taboada of Garfieldbased Victorio Auto Body is in the same boat when it comes to finding good help. Like Elder, he sees unemployment benefits playing a role in making it tough to get people on the payroll.

“There have been a lot of people casually looking. They are trying to look like they are looking for work, and then they just don’t show up. The unemployment benefits are affecting our hiring process, and people are trying to give the appearance that they are looking for work but aren’t really serious about it.”

Taboada has been using Craigslist and ZipRecruiter while also touching base with Bryant to try to get new people in the door. “Finding serious candidates is tough; it’s the type of work we do. It’s long hours. In the parts department and [in regard] to the techs, it’s not climate-controlled. People have been locked up in the house, and now there’s not much summer left. Do you want to be working in a shop or on the beach? I think a lot of decisions are being made in

that way.” Ted Rainer of Ocean Bay Auto Body in Point Pleasant says the recruitment issue has been building for a long time but has now escalated to the point where it is just out of hand. The longtime AASP/NJ Board member echoes the concerns of his fellow body shop owners. “If someone is getting unemployment benefits, why do they want to come work in an auto body shop?” Finding good people has been a struggle for so long that Rainer has started thinking outside the box for different ways to tackle the problem. The teenage daughter of a woman who used to do office work for his shops years ago has come on board part time to help him with everything from filing papers to scanning receipts and uploading photos, which has been a tremendous help. Perhaps this summer job will prepare this young woman to run a shop someday. “ If someone is getting “Instead of trying to find that one person who came from a shop and who has run a shop, we may need to take really small baby steps and go forward that way.” unemployment benefits, Adding to the hardships is the fact that many shop owners have limited why do they want to time to even properly sit down to find someone. come work in an auto “We are being pulled in so many body shop? ” different ways and wear so many different hats that we don’t even have the time to put in. We are the janitor, the building manager, the director – the everything.” With this employee shortage problem not likely to get much better, Rainer’s had to make sure he’s not putting too much on his shoulders. “[The words] ‘No’ and ‘Can’t’ aren’t in auto body guys’ vocabulary. We are always saying we can do it, but if you are biting off more than you can chew, you have to learn to say no […] The world is changing, and we need to change with it. We are a small place, and we pride ourselves on doing the job correctly.” As summer comes to end, Elder is hopeful that things may soon improve, as generally many tend to want to get back to work in the fall. “I think the crisis will ease up a bit in September.” Hopefully, that will indeed soon be the case and more shops will be able to take down those “We’re hiring” signs in favor of telling new folks, “You’re hired!”

NJA